WMC flays Govt for diverting ST issue
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 07 2024: The World Meetei Council (WMC) has accused the Manipur Government of diverting the popular demand to enlist Meetei/Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list of the Constitution.

WMC, in a statement, said that updating and implementing National Regis- ter of Citizens (NRC) in Manipur and fencing the Indo-Myanmar border may safeguard the territory of Manipur but it won't secure the future of the indigenous Meetei/Meitei.

Enlistment of Meetei/Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list of the Constitution is the only means available to protect the ethnic group from all the threats they have been facing, the council added.

Claiming that the Government has been confusing the people by adopting a resolution to press for NRC and border fencing in the recent Assembly session, the WMC maintained added that the Government was only trying to divert the ST demand by Meetei/Meitei as nobody knows when the NRC exercise and border fencing will be completed.

Urging the State Government to send the recommen- dation sought by the Centre to verify whether Meetei/Meitei can be given the ST status, the council asserted that the legitimate demand of the Meetei/Meitei to enlist them in the ST list should not be compromised with any other things.

The council also forewarned that the future and survival of Meetei/Meitei will be uncertain if they are not given the ST status before the proposed 2026 delimitation.

Maintaining that implementation of Inner Line Permit System (ILPS) in Manipur won't be effective until Meetei/Meitei becomes ST, the WMC once again urged the State Government to send the socioe-conomic and ethnography reports of Meetei/Meitei to the Centre.

The council also appealed to the people of Manipur to not cooperate with the candidates of the ensuing Lok Sabha election who don't support the popular demand of the Meetei/Meitei.

Meanwhile, WMC and volunteers of Hiyanglam Apunba Meira Paibi today carried out a campaign demanding the addition of Meetei/Meitei in the ST list at Hiyanglam Mayai Leikai.

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